Fir trees don't fare well in Florida

By Audrey Post
MS. GROW-IT-ALL

Q: We planted some fir trees back in the winter. We had a drip system to water them. I noticed last week that the trees are turning brown and the drip system was not working. Since then, I have been putting water every night on them. Can they be saved?

A: Probably not, for a couple of reasons: Fir trees don’t do well in our hot, humid climate, and people who plant their live Christmas trees in January and baby them through spring are usually disappointed to see them turning brown and dying by mid-summer. The fact your irrigation system stopped working probably just hastened the inevitable.

I would suggest planting something more tolerant of our climate. If you like the look of a fir tree, bald cypress might be a good substitute. You also could see what local Christmas tree farms grow and take inspiration there: Arizona cypress, sand pine, red cedar, arborvitae.

Whatever you plant, make sure you mix varieties of trees. Having a stand of the same kind of tree may look nice, but if disease attacks one of the trees, the others are vulnerable, too. Having different kinds of trees reduces the chance the disease will spread.

Q: I bought a variegated ginger but don’t know where to plant it or care for it. Can you help?

A: True culinary ginger, Zingiber officinale, prefers partial to complete shade. Zingiber zerumbet, known as pine cone ginger or pine cone lily, can take part shade-part sun.

However, most of the plants grown here that are called “ginger” are really perennial Alpinias and Hedychiums, which do best in semi-shade to full sun. These are the plants commonly known as butterfly gingers and shell gingers. Costus are tropical “gingers” that need protection from freezing.

So check the tag for the botanical name of your “ginger” and plant accordingly. The more sun it gets, the thirstier it will be.

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